SIDE STAGE WITH ALLY QUEEN

I was so excited to see that Devin was coming back through Baltimore and that we were given the chance to review and photograph the show. Nikki from Century Media Records has always been so gracious and helpful since I first reviewed Devin’s show last October and got to interview him.  He was my very first interview for Shockwave and the bar was set high due to the fact that he is just such a cool dude! Not to mention his endless talent and constant musical production. Perpetually churning out great music, but staying true to himself and only writing as he feels “in the moment”.   

This show was funny and entertaining which is exactly what I would expect from Hevy Devy. His wacky sense of humour coupled with an amazing songwriting, vocal and guitar playing talent that is very uniquely him. There’s definitely an underlying sarcasm or “taking the piss” going on. The pre-game video imagery on stage was a mix of YouTube insanity with our old friend the puppet Ziltoid thrown in for good measure.

Considering Devin is our age, he is now on his 15^th solo album Epicloud, (and don’t forget the 5 Strapping Young Lad albums, making a total of 20! This guy cannot possibly sleep!).  Devin played four songs off this new album including the ridiculously infectious Lucky Animals which was stuck in my head for days! I can’t wait to see the video for this. Devin requested fan submissions of animals doing silly things to the song, should be a riot! Also off Epicloud were Kingdom, Where We Belong and Grace.  Supercrush (Addicted) opened the 11 song set mixed in with Regulator (Ocean Machine), Planet of the Apes and Juular (one of my faves) from Deconstruction and rounding it out from Infinity were, War, Colonial Boy (Devin was joined onstage by Stolen Babies singer Dominique for this one).  I was disappointed not to see Anneke Van Giersbergen lending her ghostly vox on this tour, but the band is amazing! Ryan Van Poederooyen (drums), Mike Young (bass) and Dave Young (guitars).

Devin was joined onstage by members of the opening bands, Stolen Babies, Paradise Lost and Katatonia in animal masks for the encore Bad Devil, a crowd pleasing end for sure! 

Also on Century Media and on the same bill - Brit Goth/Doom Metal lads Paradise Lost. These guys have been around for 25 years; check out my review on their set on our website.

Cheers, AQ!